Credits    Navigation      philipdick.com     Novels    Short Stories     References

Cadbury, The Beaver That Lacked

• THE COLLECTED STORIES OF PHILIP K. DICK, Underwood/Miller, hb, 1987

HISTORY:

      Dick did write one short story in 1971. This was "Cadbury, The Beaver That Lacked." Little is known of the genesis of this story. Rickman refers to it in a footnote only as a ‘privately circulated story from 1970, first printed in THE COLLECTED STORIES.’

    "Cadbury, The Beaver That lacked" is a short-short story that is rather strange. Cadbury is a beaver who is viciously hen-pecked by his wife as he strives and fails to earn enough ‘blue chips’ to satisfy her. He longs for escape and sends a message sealed in an empty tin of snuff down the river. He receives a reply and after many message-bearing tins of snuff float back and forth on the river Cadbury decides he’s in love with his unknown correspondent. He builds a secret hide and then follows a snuff-tin down the river and meets his love, Carol Stickyfoot. After declaring his love and it being accepted by Carol she changes into three women: each in her own fashion manipulative and wanting Cadbury only for what he can do for them. In the end as Cadbury fades into non-existence he sees one of the girls lingering and looking back. "I love you" she says. But Cadbury is unable to hear her.

    In this story, despite the fact that Cadbury is a beaver and the Carol Stickyfoot’s are human, PKD seems to be writing of the yearning for ‘the beautiful woman who waits for you -- somewhere, but God only knows where’ as he mentioned in connection with his story "The Days Of Perky Pat" as noted above.

    A mixed-up fantasy "Cadbury The Beaver That Lacked" rates about ô ô ô .

Other Magazine and Anthology appearances   

TTHC 415: fn9: {...} a privately circulated story from 1970, first published in The Collected Stories.

    {Although Rickman ascribes the story to 1970 in Vol. 5 of THE COLLECTED STORIES "Cadbury The Beaver That Lacked" is dated to Dec 1971.}

Collector's Notes

Credits    Navigation      philipdick.com     Novels    Short Stories     References